Free Republic

President-elect Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency, a nongovernmental entity helmed by billionaire Elon Musk and biotech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, is expected to make a push for an end to remote work across federal agencies as a way to help reduce the federal workforce through attrition. Both Musk and Ramaswamy have recently publicly lamented the number of employees working remotely across the government. A source familiar with early discussions about the focus of DOGE, as the initiative is known, told CNN that while nothing is final, early priorities include an effort to immediately end...

VIDEOIt's pretty sad. Alan Lichtman and his poorly fitting wig have been together for years. However, in the wake of the 2024 election when Lichtman's 13 Keys to the Presidency was revealed as completely absurd, he had been acting like such a maniac that now his wig is demanding a divorce. The poor wig can no longer tolerate the embarrassment.

Let the tears flow I say! 😭 https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1854164267693469697/vid/avc1/1280x720/zGVPNcTu1x7_ILdP.mp4?tag=16

The Traditional Latin Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler and four other parishes will end Nov. 30, according to a letter sent to parishioners dated Nov. 6. The Cathedral has regularly offered a 2 p.m. Sunday Mass in Latin. The change comes as the Catholic Church revised the rules governing the 1962 Roman Missal, used for the pre-Vatican II Traditional Latin Mass. The 1962 Roman Missal represents the form of the Mass celebrated in the church for centuries, conducted entirely in Latin. Certain rituals and practices that were modified or changed after Vatican II or the...

The man who got kicked in the face in a shocking moment of pickleball violence just wants to be done with it and has no plans on pressing charges. Footage of the fiery on-court altercation at a tournament in Mexico has gone viral, surprising many given pickleball’s reputation as a friendly sport. In what appeared to be a match point, the eventual kicker, who was wearing pink shorts, received a serve before approaching the net, where he illegally stepped over the non-volley line. That mistake gave away a foot fault, and ultimately the match.

Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private who was sentenced Aug. 21 to 35 years in a military prison for releasing highly sensitive U.S. military secrets, is seeking gender reassignment. Here’s how gender reassignment works: Converting male anatomy to female anatomy requires removing the penis, reshaping genital tissue to appear more female and constructing a vagina. An incision is made into the scrotum, and the flap of skin is pulled back. The testes are removed. People who have male-to-female gender-reassignment surgery retain a prostate. Following surgery, estrogen (a female hormone) will stimulate breast development, widen the hips, inhibit the growth of...

A study by the University of Pittsburgh reveals that AI-generated poetry has been rated higher than poems written by humans. In the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon lies the burial site of William Shakespeare. And right now, you can bet the Bard is spinning in grave like a rotisserie chicken. Similarly, in Heptonstall graveyard, Sylvia Plath is most probably swivelling, repeating her line “If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed” from "The Bell Jar". What’s behind the unwarranted gyrating from the beyond? Well, a new study in the US has found that readers can’t tell the difference...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Throughout his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump heaped scorn on the federal Department of Education, describing it as being infiltrated by “ radicals, zealots and Marxists.” He has picked Linda McMahon, a former wrestling executive, to lead the department. But like many conservative politicians before him, Trump has called for dismantling the department altogether — a cumbersome task that likely would require action from Congress. The agency's main role is financial. Annually, it distributes billions in federal money to colleges and schools and manages the federal student loan portfolio. Closing the department would mean redistributing each of those...

@jeremycorbyn The Prime Minister should make a statement to Parliament, immediately, to confirm whether UK missiles have been fired into Russia. He must tell the British public if this means we are now at war with a nuclear power, what risk this poses to people in Britain, and why this action was taken without any approval from Parliament. I have consistently condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and called for a diplomatic solution to stop the endless bloodshed. As we edge closer and closer to catastrophe, we should be doing everything in our power to bring about de-escalation and...

(The Hill) – Most Americans in a new poll said they probably won’t get an updated COVID-19 vaccine. The Pew Research Center survey found that 60 percent said they are “probably not” going to “get an updated vaccine.” Just under 25 percent said they “probably” will get a booster and 15 percent said they have already received the latest shot. It has been over four years since the U.S. began dealing with COVID-19, with the spread of the virus causing mass shutdowns within multiple industries and people around the world being forced to stay in their homes. Those in the...

David Hogg's time in the political limelight has mostly revolved around nothing more than his having been a student at Parkland and him parroting the media's preferred line about firearms. He's not done anything else of note, but they still adore him for just those reasons. Hell, it's the only reason he got into Harvard and everyone knows it since he'd already been rejected by state schools. Hogg's PAC tried to get a number of new Democrats elected to Congress, with pretty much no success. Exactly one candidate won in anything remotely like a contested race and they didn't even...

One word appears to be universal across languages. That's pretty weird, huh? Go to any country where you don't speak the language, and you will obviously have some trouble communicating. You may have a little help, with languages sharing common roots and similar words, but without background knowledge it's probably time to start pointing, grunting, and apologizing in your own language as best as you can get across. But there's one word that appears to have a "universal" meaning across many different languages. Say it, and you will likely be understood despite language barriers, prompting linguists to investigate further. Word...

Before we get into the details of the opening segment of today's CNN This Morning, there's a broader, more significant, point to be made. There was none of the catastrophization of Trump that the liberal media dished out throughout the campaign. No talk about existential threats to democracy, Trump as Hitler, this election being the last, etc. Instead, the focus was on Trump as a cultural, as well as a political, phenomenon. But before host Kasie Hunt ventured into that, she mocked Joe Biden in a manner that could have been made into a Republican ad before Ol' Joe quit...

On one side of the Capitol, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace vowed to “stand in the way” of Democratic Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, the first out transgender woman elected to Congress, using women’s bathrooms in the US Capitol. Across the building, McBride was privately counseling her Democratic colleagues how to balance both pushing back on dehumanizing rhetoric while also staying on message. McBride, who came up through the Delaware legislature, assured Democrats that she has faced similar attacks before and was not going to let this define her. “This is not her first rodeo,” Democratic Rep. Becca Balint said of McBride....

Jaguar is being blasted on social media for its ultra-woke commercial featuring androgynous models and not even a single car, with conservatives dubbing the ad “Bud Light 2.0.” The Jaguar commercial, which was posted to the car company’s social media on Tuesday, showed only androgynous individuals clad in bizarre attire that would hardly fit in at a fashion show. The advertisement also failed to showcase even one single vehicle from the luxury car company. The Jaguar ad also featured what appears to be a man wearing a dress, and included messaging that read, “create exuberant,” “live vivid,” “delete ordinary,” and...

BREAKING: Chuck Schumer just confirmed another lifelong federal judge with a vote of 50-48. Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Braun didn't show up to block the confirmation by making it 50-50. Kamala is currently in Hawaii, so she couldn't have cast the tie-breaking vote. Senator JD Vance is our VP-elect and still took time out of his busy schedule to show up & vote. Where were Ted Cruz and Mike Braun? We could've stopped this nomination or, at the very least, slowed down Schumer. If Republicans were the ones speedrunning confirmations like Schumer, every Democrat Senator would be in...

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), a longtime ally of President-elect Donald Trump, came out hard against Trump’s plan to used the military as part of his mass deportation effort on Tuesday night. “I think what I would do if I were in charge of the immigration situation would be to first to go after those who have committed crimes. You know, the big news right before the election was that there were 15,000 people in our country who have committed murder, there are about 13,000 that have committed sex crimes, violent sex crimes. That’s 28,000 people. Why don’t we start with...

House Speaker Mike Johnson has ruled the first transgender member of Congress cannot use the women's restrooms in a decision that will shake the U.S. Capitol. Newly elected Sarah McBride, who will become the first openly transgender lawmaker when sworn into office in January, will have to use the men's facilities. It follows a week of outrage from outspoken Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who have called McBride a 'man', a predator and accused her of being 'mentally ill.' Republicans were emboldened by Donald Trump's win in the presidential election. Trump has pledged to stop taxpayer...

...In many states, those with felony convictions are barred from voting. Black Americans are more than three times as likely to be disenfranchised as other groups. A nation in which 4 million Americans were denied the right to vote due to a felony conviction has just elected a president who was convicted of 34 felony charges. In Florida, where President-elect Donald Trump is registered to vote, a person convicted of a felony can vote only after completing the terms of their sentence, including full payment of any fines, fees, costs and restitution. Trump, who in May was convicted in New...

Lake Geneva’s CO₂ emissions stem mainly from rock erosion, not organic matter, reshaping our understanding of lake carbon cycles. Unlike oceans, lakes release considerable amounts of CO₂ into the atmosphere. But what causes this difference, and what mechanisms drive it? For the first time, scientists at UNIL have mapped out the entire carbon cycle in Lake Geneva, developing a model that can now be applied to many of the world’s largest lakes. * Contrary to previous beliefs, it is the natural erosion of rocks that is responsible for the significant CO2 emissions from Lake Geneva and many of the world’s...